Beauty Box 5 Unboxing and Review: December 2013

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Have you been Naughty or Nice? Beauty Box 5 is celebrating all sides of the modern woman, so our December boxes contained a little bit of everything, including romantic “good girl” eye shadows and sultry plumping “bad girl” lip glosses. This holiday season be as sweet as you want to be!

HOW IT WORKS
For $12/month subscribers will receive a box filled with a carefully selected mixture of five travel-sized, deluxe-sized and full-sized cosmetic products from luxury, commonly known brands, niche brands, eco-conscious and even vegan brands. Aimed at introducing women to new cosmetic products and educating them on best practices, Beauty Box 5 scours the market to find the best products for your lifestyle.
Click here to subscribe.

NYX Cosmetics Love in Rio Eyeshadow Palette in Sway With Lola – I received this gorgeous trio of romantic eye shadows, and the colors couldn’t be more perfect for me. I normally don’t go for a super bold eye look, and instead prefer more muted or pastel colors to accentuate my eyes, and these three are just what I had in mind for that little pop of color that wouldn’t be too over the top. The shadows are not very pigmented and also not long-lasting, but they feel nice and creamy on the lids, and provide a few hours of wear before they start creasing. I would recommend using a primer underneath if you don’t want to waste too much product trying to built up the intensity.

Body Drench Daily Moisturizing Lotion in Sun Splashed Mango – Body Drench brand makes products designed for tanning, and this lotion is meant to replenish moisture after UV exposure. It contains oils and extracts that help smooth and soften the skin, to make sure you don’t end up looking like a raisin. I enjoyed the fragrance and the way it feels on my skin, but wasn’t too impressed with the ingredient list, so it’s unlikely that I’ll purchase the full-sized bottle.

Ofra Cosmetics Sultry Lipgloss Plumper – It’s super thick, almost like a lip tar, and hence very concentrated – I needed about a rice grain size amount to fully cover my lips. The plumping effect is not immediate, and the lips don’t suddenly begin to sting, like it happens with most other plumpers. I waited about 10 minutes for the full effect, and all this time I felt like my lips were slowly being inflated like a balloon, but I noticed no stinging or pain of any kind. This shade can be worn during the day or night because the color is kind of in-between the work and fun palette. To sum it up, I liked the color, and I loved the plumping part – it was way more pleasant than any other similar products I tried before.

Clean & Clear Morning Burst Hydrating Gel Moisturizer – Blast from the past! I remember using Clean & Clear products when I was a teenager, so it was nice to revisit the brand again. This moisturizer is very lightweight and absorbs quickly, while smelling like tropical fruits. It’s not nourishing enough for me, but I think for someone with oily skin it would make a nice choice.

Every Beauty Flexible Foot Smoother – Using this foot scrubber was fun, easy, and a little bit tickly, and it definitely works better than a regular pumice stone. One side is more coarse, while the other is more fine, and together they made my feetsies look and feel soft again.

As a special bonus this month I decided to share a romantic makeup look using some products from the December box. You can spy the NYX trio on my eyes and the Ofra lip gloss on my lips 🙂

THE VERDICT
This was a very fun box, and quite possibly my favorite out of the three that I have gotten so far. I loved the eye shadows, even though they weren’t very pigmented. Ofra lip gloss was a fun new thing to try, and it worked better than any other lip plumpers I tested. And of course the best thing in the box was the Foot Smoother, which now became my daily shower staple.

Are you a Beauty Box 5 subscriber? What do you think about the December box?

Product Retail value
NYX Cosmetics Love in Rio Eyeshadow Palette $6.00
Body Drench Daily Moisturizing Lotion $1.35
Ofra Cosmetics Sultry Lipgloss Plumper $12.95
Clean & Clear Morning Burst Hydrating Gel Moisturizer $1.16
Every Beauty Flexible Foot Smoother $4.99
Box Retail Value $26.45

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38 Comments

  1. December 18, 2013 / 9:45 am

    love the look at the end! I haven’t gotten my box yet but I am looking forward to it now 🙂 definitely worth the $8.25

    writingwhimsy.com

    • December 18, 2013 / 3:05 pm

      Thank you Zoe! This was my favorite BB5 box out of the three I have received so far, and I hope you love yours too 🙂

    • December 18, 2013 / 3:08 pm

      Ahh, those three were great 🙂 Actually, the lip gloss was the most surprising, because I did not expect it to be that pigmented.

  2. December 18, 2013 / 12:56 pm

    Love the look you created. I really enjoyed this box, and surprisingly the lipgloss too!

    • December 18, 2013 / 3:09 pm

      Thank you Miranda! I know, right? That lip gloss was unexpectedly good 🙂

  3. December 18, 2013 / 1:46 pm

    You got a great box! I love lipcolor on you. (Sheila, Painted Ladies)

  4. December 18, 2013 / 4:10 pm

    Looks like a great box. I love the Nyx!

    • December 19, 2013 / 2:24 am

      The pigmentation is lacking, but the price just can’t be beat 🙂

  5. December 18, 2013 / 4:19 pm

    The lip color is gorgeous. Looks like a nice box

    • December 19, 2013 / 2:25 am

      Thanks Kim! This box was definitely the best out of the tree I have gotten.

  6. December 18, 2013 / 6:06 pm

    Great product breakdown. I love the lipstick, I’ll look into Ofra (making sure I didn’t spell out as Ophra, haha!)

    • December 19, 2013 / 2:26 am

      Their products can be a hit or a miss. For instance I wasn’t crazy about the cream eyeshadows in a lip gloss tube, but this gloss is just perfect.

    • December 19, 2013 / 2:27 am

      Thanks, this sure was a great month for BB5.

    • December 19, 2013 / 2:27 am

      What was your favorite product? 🙂

    • December 19, 2013 / 2:28 am

      Haha, it sure looks like I did 🙂 Lip gloss really surprised me, i did not expect it to be that good at all.

  7. December 18, 2013 / 7:58 pm

    we got the same! that gloss looks FABULOUS on you!

  8. December 18, 2013 / 11:03 pm

    And you just pop that foot smoother in the dishwasher!! 😀

    • December 19, 2013 / 2:29 am

      LOL, I totally pictured that just now 😀

  9. December 18, 2013 / 11:24 pm

    Wow, that lipgloss is gorgeous on you. What beautiful lips you have!

    • December 19, 2013 / 2:30 am

      Thank you, Harshleen 🙂 I seriously did not expect that from Ofra, but this gloss is probably going to be my go-to for months to come.

  10. December 19, 2013 / 1:50 am

    I NEED that NYX trio!!! If only Beauty Box 5 would ship to Alaska, I would have subscribed a long time ago.

    • December 19, 2013 / 2:33 am

      Oh nooo, I can’t believe they don’t ship to you 🙁 I actually had to pester companies to ship to me back when I lived in Russia, and some CS reps went out of their way to personally ship my items with some extra charge, even though normally it’s not their policy. That was very nice of them, and they earned a loyal customer 😉

  11. December 19, 2013 / 7:28 am

    I need to look into subscribing. I love that NYX trio, and the Ofra gloss!!!!!

    • December 19, 2013 / 8:24 am

      Both of them were very fun to play with, for sure 🙂

  12. December 19, 2013 / 9:04 am

    Love your breakdown of the costs! I got a similar box but my trio was different shades! Love how soft this one looks!

    • December 20, 2013 / 9:39 pm

      Thanks Stephanie! I stopped doing the breakdown at one point, but my readers really wanted it back, so I’m now doing this permanently for all subscription reviews 🙂

  13. December 19, 2013 / 8:45 pm

    I think you got one of the prettiest trios

    • December 20, 2013 / 9:41 pm

      Thank you, Betzy! At first I didn’t know what to do with it because pink eye shadows are scary, but it worked out in the end 🙂

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